The Path Less Traveled
by Starcube
Summary: AU from Manga 402. Sasuke's goal in life was fulfilled, but everything felt so far from over. An offer was made for a new goal, but it was not the one he wanted. He turned his back on Madara and turned toward home.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto and all that fun stuff. On with the show…

* * *

The sea, the sea, so calm, so serene, so destructive. Each passing wave beat upon the shore, slowly wearing away the rocks that nature had taken so much time to build. The water broke them down, bit by bit, so slowly that by the time they were gone, it was too late to even remember the rocks were there to begin with.

The sea was rushing in Sasuke's ears. As he stood on the beachside the roar of the ocean blocked out all other noises. He was deaf to the world around him. The sound of breathing from his teammates, the strange clicking that came from Madara's clothes as he moved, all were drowned by the sounds of the sea.

Within the silence Sasuke returned to his memories, memories he had locked away; the ones which would have weakened his hatred, his resolve. He remembered those happy times before the massacre, before pain, before hatred. He remembered his childhood with Itachi, how his elder brother had always made time for him, cared for him, even when the world asked otherwise. Those times when being his brother was the only thing that mattered.

What mattered now? Did anything even matter now?

The man who called himself Madara Uchiha had said that Itachi had been ordered to murder the clan. He had said that everything Sasuke had known about his brother, his family, himself was all a lie, an elaborate illusion to keep him from the truth.

What was the truth now?

Itachi's dying words and smile pulled themselves to the forefront of Sasuke's mind. He was dead now, his brother; Itachi was dead and Sasuke no longer had a purpose in living. He felt hollow, yet within that feeling of emptiness was a typhoon of emotion, whirling so fast Sasuke could hardly contain it. His goal in life was fulfilled, but everything felt so far from over.

Somewhere inside himself Sasuke knew that Madara was trying to take advantage of him, to capture him as a pawn to manipulate to his own ends. It was too convenient, for him to come as Itachi died, to tear down the laws of the world that Sasuke had always accepted as true. The words that had fallen from the masked man's covered lips all but told him to destroy Konoha. A part of him wished to do so. But Sasuke was never one to be used. If he worked with anyone beyond obligations, it was for his own benefit. What had he to gain from destroying the village, anyway? A momentary lapse in his own pains perhaps, nothing more.

Itachi had warned him against Madara, had he not? And if Madara was to be believed, and Itachi had done everything for Sasuke, then the warning was in his best interest as well. Madara's words and Sasuke's feelings coincided here. Itachi had always loved Sasuke, that much was true. Beyond that, things hurt too much to consider.

The sounds of the ocean came back into focus now as a pained sob escaped the youngest Uchiha. Salt spray splashed against his change of clothes. It caught up in his nose too and more sobs and sniffling followed. Tears of anguish and frustration ran down his face. Who was right? His brother, or the mysterious Uchiha who had appeared just in time for Sasuke to never be the last of his clan?

All instincts pointed to Itachi, but it went against everything Sasuke had known to be true. Yet Itachi had said that knowledge could be an illusion.

The ocean grew louder again. Another wave broke against the shore. Far above, a hawk screeched against the sunlight.

Sasuke opened his eyes and gazed at the water before him. His face stung with salt from the spray and his tears. The world was so much brighter when his eyes were opened.

He needed time, space. His world held no truths save one: Itachi had cared for him until the end.

Itachi had chosen Konoha over the clan. That had been his choice, to follow the orders of the council over the orders of his kin, and it had warped his and Sasuke's lives beyond repair. But they had lived. To destroy Konoha now, to prove the council right, it would make all Itachi's work for naught. It would mean all of their suffering, Itachi's and his own, was for nothing.

The hawk above him screeched again. Sasuke watched it as it flew into the sun a little to early for setting. It was probably going home.

_Maybe it's tired_, thought Sasuke, watching the bird's progress toward the horizon, _I am…so tired. _

The storm inside him was calming down, the winds of lies dissipating as all his thoughts and feelings fell into place. The aching hollowness was still there, but numbed by a new sense of reason.

He would fulfill Itachi's goal for him. Sasuke would return to Konoha as a hero for defeating the dreaded missing-nin. He would restore the honor of the Uchiha clan in the eyes of his home and in the eyes of the world. And while in Konoha, he would uncover which of his kinsmen was the liar. After all, Itachi had proven it was easiest to break a thing from the inside.

Course of action decided, Sasuke inhaled deeply, the salty sea air stinging his nose and throat.

"Team Hebi is dismissed," he said quietly.

"What was that now?" said Suigetsu from Sasuke's left, while Karin squawked incredulously.

"Team Hebi is dismissed," the dark haired boy repeated. "You are all free to go."

Sasuke turned past his stunned teammates and walked along the rocks to the sand lining the beach. He was headed back to solid ground. As he passed Madara, the masked man's single visible eye narrowed.

"Are you making the right decision?"

"I am making my own decision," came the clipped reply. Madara had gotten under his skin enough today, Sasuke wanted the man out of his life for now.

"Sasuke! Wait up!" Karin was running after him. Suigetsu stood behind her, scratching his head bemusedly. Juugo had also started towards his former team leader, a look of apprehension on his face.

"You can't leave without us!" the redhead girl shouted at Sasuke angrily. She made to grab his sleeve when Suigetsu called after her.

"Oi, Karin! What're you bothering him for? Didn't you say you were only with us 'cause our journey was on your way?"

She was being quite a pain, that Karin. Suigetsu could never quite figure out what was going on under that obnoxiously bright hair of hers. He was quite frankly pleased to be released from his duties. Following around Sasuke was all well and good where fighting was concerned, but the man couldn't hold a decent conversation to save his life. Suigetsu was looking forward to actually have fun on a mission.

He'd probably go off and become an assassin-for-hire. Or maybe he would return to Hidden Mist. There had been rumors of power changing hands, perhaps he would be accepted back. It would be nice to be around his own kind of people again.

Karin stopped and turned red, whether from fury or from blushing, no one knew.

"Well maybe I had a change of plans!"

"Liar!" the swordsman shouted. " You just want to get in-"

Karin had turned, sprinted toward the boy and gave him a swift hit to the face, preventing him from finishing his sentence.

Meanwhile, Juugo, in his quiet manner, had walked up beside Sasuke and said, "Can I go with you? It's not safe for me to be free."

Sasuke silently looked his tallest teammate up and down. He was only stable in the presence of a powerful ninja. He couldn't just leave Juugo alone. The man would go on a rampage and wreak havoc like no one had ever seen. And it would be all Sasuke's fault.

"The Hokage of Konoha is some kind of medic. Perhaps she can help you."

The other boy let out a breath he had not known he was holding. He would be under someone else's control. He would be stopped from hurting people he didn't want to hurt. And maybe, just maybe, he could be cured.

"Thank you," He murmured.

"Hm," Sasuke mumbled as he started walking again. All of his planning was of course running on the hope that he wouldn't be arrested or even executed for defecting. The Third Hokage would have let him back, but the Fifth, Sasuke hadn't been in the village long enough to know too much about her.

Suigetsu and Karin were fighting in the background, Suigetst's amorphous form straining to keep from touching the ocean.

"Hey, you crazy girl! You don't know what the salt water's gonna do to me!"

"I couldn't care less if it killed you! You need to keep your opinions to yourself!"

Sasuke sighed, it hadn't taken long for those two to go off on each other. He turned around to tell them to shut up and realized someone was missing. Madara was no longer present. The masked man apparently no longer had any interest in him once he had decided to follow his own will.

"Please stop, you two" Juugo said nervously. "Now is really not the time."

"Yeah, Karin," came Suigetsu's gurgling reply from the blob of himself that was on the rocks, "Now's not the time to be beating up an innocent swordsman simply for voicing your own sick, creepy thoughts."

Karin gave the Suigetsu-blob a kick, "The only creepy thing around here is you."

The girl then skipped neatly back to Sasuke and Juugo, caring little that she had just beaten her (now former) teammate to a literal pulp.

"So, Sasuke," she said, "Where are we going?"

"I am returning to Konoha," he replied. It was better to tell her outright. Saying it aloud made it feel more real anyway.

Karin's face fell. She couldn't follow him there. He was returning home, and his home was not hers.

"But what about Sound?" The redhead was grasping at straws to stay by his side.

"They don't need me." _And I don't need them anymore._

Before Karin could say another word though, Suigetsu had pulled himself together.

"Hey, if you haven't changed your mind, I'm heading off," he called offhandedly. "Just remember, if we ever meet on the battlefield, you owe me a few favors, Sasuke."

The other boy simply waved a hand by way of acknowledgement. Karin though, running low on options, rounded on him.

"And where exactly are you going?"

Suigetsu shrugged, "Somewhere. Not here. Salt water makes me itch."

"Fine then. I'm going with you."

"Your precious Sasuke won't take you, so now I'm stuck with you? That's not fair!"

Karin put her hands on her hips, this was getting dangerous.

"You're going somewhere, I'm going somewhere, so we might as well go somewhere together."

Suigetsu scrunched his face in thought. If she promised not to hit him or make annoying comments, maybe things could be civil between them. What was with her, though? Couldn't she decide where to go on her own?

Her light eyes were boring into his own, and almost pleading look on her face. Maybe she was so used to being a follower that she didn't really remember how to make decisions for herself. Karin was different from him and Sasuke. She had obeyed orders where they had rebelled. The girl probably just needed some time to get her feet back on the ground. Time seemed to be something that Sasuke wasn't willing to give her, but he, Suigetsu, with no goal in sight, had all the time in the world.

"You have to promise not to hit me first."

"Fi-"

"Or say any weird things."

"Ok-"

"Or steal my water bottles."

"FINE THEN!" Karin shouted, "I'll be nice to you! Let's just go!"

She started on the few feet back to where she had left the former Mist-nin. She seemed close to tears. Suigetsu started walking along the beach opposite of the direction Sasuke and Juugo had started in.

Just when she was halfway to Suigetsu, Karin whirled around and raced back to Sasuke. She caught him in a bear hug around the shoulders. He tensed at the sudden contact. The girl was trying to hold back tears.

"I'd better see you again, so don't g-get yourself killed or anything like that."

"Hn."

And just as suddenly as she had embraced him, she let go and ran back to Suigetsu. With her back to the boy she liked, the tears spilled freely from her eyes.

"Sayonara!" Suigetsu called across the beach to the other boys' retreating backs. He got another wave from Sasuke and a soft "Goodbye." from Juugo. To the girl at his side he said, "You get weirder and weirder everyday, ya know that?"

Karin punched him in the face as a reply.

"I'll let you have one freebie then."

* * *

From the edge of the forest beyond the beach, Madara watched as Team Hebi parted ways. He would not force Sasuke to come to him, the boy would come on his own, eventually. His heart was steeped in hatred, whether he pretended otherwise or not. It would lead him back down the path of vengeance and right into Madara's waiting arms. All he had to do was wait.

* * *

When sand blended with soil again, Sasuke turned around one last time. He could barely see his former teammates, only able to discern them by their clashing hair colors. They would probably never see each other again, only hear passing rumors of former Team Hebi's exploits in the ninja world. Sasuke's last real connections to the past three years of his of his life were fading into the horizon. He subconsciously rubbed his neck where the curse seal had been.

"They'll be fine, you know," murmured Juugo, following the dark haired boy's gaze, "They have each other. They'll find somewhere to belong."

"Provided they make it there in one piece."

"They won't hurt each other too much. I think they secretly like each other. The birds tell me that they act like friends."

"Aa."

And then the two walked into the beginnings of a forest, with Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves as their destination.

* * *

Hi there, Starcube here. So yeah. Here's the first chapter of my new fic, The Path Less Traveled. It's an Alternate Universe from chapter 402 of the manga. This chapter was really fun to write, I sort of blasted it out in about two evening's worth of work (while also studying for a test. What.).

Beta-ed by the amazingsaucetakulous Alaenor-Skybird, as always.

I'd really like to hear what you think of the story, so please review. I do accept CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.


	2. Chapter 2

Insert Standard Disclaimer Here. CHAPTER 2 LET'S GO.

* * *

The forest was thick and dark, but the gloom that shadowed over the Sasuke retrieval team was darker. They had failed. No matter how prepared they had been, how hard they had tried, they had still failed.

A silence deeper than lack of sound penetrated the group. It emanated from Naruto, who was usually the source of all noise with his incessant chatter. The weight of failure lay heavily upon his shoulders. Every single time he tried to bring back his best friend, Sasuke had been pulled out of his grasp. It was starting to seem impossible. Sasuke was always too far away for Naruto to catch.

Sakura, too, felt the heaviness of loss. To have so much hope, to be so close and then have it all shattered hurt her deeply, more deeply than she showed. How she longed for things to be like they were, back when Team Seven was really a team, not just scattered remnants of what could have been.

Hinata wished she could have done more. She could see how much the outcome of their mission was hurting Naruto. She wished there was something she could do or say to ease the hurt. Her heart ached for him.

The rest of Team Eight remained silent, even Akamaru, to not break the mood. The boys were frustrated. Their techniques had been rendered useless in the face of the masked Akatsuki member. Were they really that weak? Shino appeared calm on the surface, but inside was roiling with irritation. Kiba would occasionally shake his head violently and growl to himself, lost in his own thoughts.

Kakashi pretended to feel nothing as they made their way back to the village. There were more important things at the moment than the renewed wave of disappointment that had settled on his soul. Tsunade had to be informed of Itachi's death, and of the information on the Akatsuki from Kabuto's book. Kabuto himself also needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

Yamato and Sai followed Kakashi's lead.

The rain over the trees had let up enough to reveal the rise of evening. A few bright stars twinkled between the dissipating clouds.

Kakashi called for a halt as they reached a clearing.

"We'll stop here for the night. We all need some food and the rest will do us good."

There was mumbled assent from the group at large, each person had their own troubles on their minds and didn't really care what went on around them. The depression of the team was almost tangible.

_It's for the best that we stop now,_ Kakashi thought, _We're close enough to Konoha that we aren't risking being attacked, but we won't bring such a dark mood into the village. Hopefully they'll all feel a bit better in the morning. _

Yamato came up beside him.

"Should we really be stopping now? We're only a few more hours from the village."

"A few more hours may be enough time for one of them to lose it. We need this team in one piece when we return. Tsunade will have our heads if Naruto or Sakura goes off with the crazy idea that they could find Sasuke better on their own."

"Alright then."

Sluggishly the teens were setting up camp. The only one who seemed to be truly paying attention to his task was Sai. He could not quite understand why everyone had become so quiet. Naruto and Sakura were sad, his books had shown him what sad faces looked like. They were unhappy that the mission was a failure. Why the others were acting abnormally was not something his books elicited. It had not said anywhere that sadness was contagious, but that seemed to be the case. Sai wondered why he was so immune to the others' pain.

Naruto was more of a hindrance than a help in setting up camp. He would begin a task, then randomly abandon it, swearing under his breath, and start a new one. Sakura was little better, barely paying attention to her work. It was only when Hinata gently eased the bedroll out of her hands that the pink haired girl realized she had been trying to unroll it without undoing the straps.

All in all, it was nothing short of a miracle that camp got set up at all. It was fully nighttime when everything was in order and the team was ready for bed under a rudimentary wood hut that Yamato had produced in case it began to rain again.

Naruto was curled up in a corner, his back to the rest of the group. Sakura lay next to the opposite wall, beside Hinata who had taken it upon herself to watch over the other girl. Akamaru was between the Hyuuga and Kiba, who was next to Shino. Sai lay on his back one over from the bug user. Yamato lay by the entrance. Kakashi took the first watch.

As he stared at the wavering sky scattered with stars with his one visible eye, he hoped that things would be better in the morning.

* * *

As night fell, Sasuke and Juugo continued their journey through the forest. They had started so near sunset that it seemed pointless to make camp after only a few hours. It would also be dangerous and a bit foolhardy to camp so close to Konoha. There were probably patrols out that would come across the two boys and there would be trouble. A missing-nin and comrade camping so close to a village would practically scream that something wasn't right. Sasuke felt it was unnecessary to risk such a situation occurring.

As the pair went deeper and deeper into the forest, the trees began to grow larger, obscuring the star-spattered sky from view. The night was cool and quiet, with few animals about. The quiet was almost eerie without Suigetsu and Karin's constant bickering, but neither Sasuke nor Juugo had anything they felt the need to say.

Both boys were dwelling on the future. Sasuke wondered how he would be treated when he returned. Would they welcome him back with open arms? Would he be treated like a hero for eliminating some of the most dangerous missing-nin in the Bingo Book? Or would they imprison him as a traitor for abandoning the village? What would Konoha do to Juugo if that happened? Sasuke doubted that the latter possibilities would come to fruition, not if Naruto had anything to say about it.

He absently wondered what Naruto would say to him when he got back. Before this train of thought went anywhere, Juugo interrupted it.

"Sasuke," the taller boy said slowly, "Will Konoha let me stay?"

"I don't know."

"Will they kill me?"

"No," Sasuke said, even though he wasn't quite so sure on the matter. Konoha wasn't like Sound, in that it didn't kill those who wouldn't be of use to it, but it was still a ninja village. It had to protect itself from internal and external threats. Juugo, with his instability and violent tendencies, would be certainly deemed a possible threat at the very least. What Sasuke himself would be considered by the village, not even he knew.

He had been marked as a missing-nin in the Bingo Book, but he didn't think anything much worse was in his entry. Sasuke had also killed (well, one was a suicide, but it sort of counted anyway,) three missing-nin that were registered as threats to Konoha. His future depended on how each of his deeds weighed against the other, and he wasn't certain how Konoha would consider them.

The forest was becoming familiar now. Sasuke had been relying on fairly good guesswork to get this far, but now he knew that he and Juugo would reach the outskirts of Konoha very soon.

"We are approaching our destination," he informed his comrade.

Juugo nodded then said, "Do we just walk in then? That can't be right."

"There will probably be guards at the gate. We will adapt from there."

Juugo could tell that Sasuke was becoming annoyed with his questions. It seemed that everything he asked served as a reminder that the Uchiha had very little idea of what he was getting himself into. It would be best for the taller boy to remain silent until necessary.

The trees were thinning now, the patches of night sky becoming larger. They were close to the village now. Sasuke idly wondered if there were perimeter guards set up by now. There hadn't been when he had left.

A rustling sound came from the trees above them. Sasuke and Juugo both tensed, ready for an attack.

Instead, a fat squirrel scurried down from the foliage on their left. Sasuke stared at the small, furry thing. He hadn't seen many mammals around in Hidden Sound, only reptiles and a few birds. He supposed that the animals could hear the techniques of the ninja there and fled for a quieter home.

The squirrel stared back at him, paralyzed for a moment, then scampered past them to another tree.

"Does that happen often?" asked Juugo.

"What?"

"Squirrels being out at night."

"I wouldn't know."

"I hope that an owl doesn't eat it."

"Hn."

They continued forward, the sky nearly fully visible. The moon was past the zenith of its voyage through the heavens. It was some time in the unholy hours of the morning.

Sasuke could see one of the outer walls of the village through a break in the trees. It looked the same as he remembered. Everything was so familiar.

Now more rustling came from around them, too much to be another squirrel.

_And so it begins,_ thought Sasuke, and he waited for the guards to announce their presence.

They didn't. Instead, Sasuke felt his arms being bent in directions they were not comfortable in going. He did not struggle. Sasuke was forced to the ground from behind. His entire field of vision was dirt. A loud thud and a moan from his right suggested that Juugo was going through the same thing.

"State your name and business with the Village Hidden in the Leaves!" ordered one of their captors. Sasuke knew only protocol that they asked his name, it was impossible for them to not know who he was.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha. The one traveling with me is Juugo. We seek an audience with the Fifth Hokage of Konoha. We have no intent to harm the village or its citizens."

If he took his quest straight to the highest authority in the village, things were more likely to go his way. It was easier to convince one person than to work his way up through the chain of command. Naruto knew the Hokage as well, from what he could remember, and whether Sasuke wanted to acknowledge it or not, Naruto's influence could be the one thing that would prevent his execution.

"Why should we let you in the village, traitor?"

This came from a different ninja than before.

"Itachi Uchiha is dead," Sasuke replied quietly.

That was all it took to convince them, it seemed. The Konoha-nin pulled their captives off the ground, and released one arm of each. One of them stood in front of the group, facing them. This one was ANBU, a woman.

"You will both leave all of your weapons here. If you retain anything, it will be considered hostile intent and you will be executed on the spot."

Wordlessly, Sasuke handed over his Kusanagi, sheath and all. He extracted his kunai, senbon, and wires from within his clothing. Juugo did not move.

"You too there," said one of the guards.

"I'm sorry," Juugo said, holding up his free arm to reveal the clothing hidden by his cloak, "I have no weapons."

The female ANBU tilted her head. If she hadn't been wearing a mask, Sasuke was sure he could have seen the skepticism written all over her face.

"Get back on his other arm then," the woman barked. She wasn't stupid, Sasuke would give the ANBU that much credit. She had figured that, if he wasn't carrying weapons, Juugo must rely on skills that would require both hands to perform. By binding their hands, the guards could theoretically prevent them from using any jutsu that required handsigns. Sasuke also noticed that the guards had come from behind, deliberately remaining out of range of his Sharingan. Konoha had indeed upped its security since he had left.

Content that everything was in order, the ANBU collected the weapons.

"These will be returned to you if the Hokage and the Council find it acceptable."

Sasuke had bristled at the mentioning of the Council, his captors took note of it.

"You will both be escorted to holding cells until the Hokage is available to meet you. Do not resist or we will execute you."

Sasuke glanced at Juugo out of the corner of his eye. It shouldn't take long for the Hokage to meet them, the redhead should be able to control himself for a while.

He nodded. The guards began to march them into the village.

* * *

The female ANBU member took off ahead of the group. As leader of the guards, it would be her job to explain why the hell she was waking the Hokage up at 2:47 in the morning. She could only hope that, half-asleep, Lady Tsunade wouldn't have such great aim.

* * *

Right. So. Mad early update because I won't have computer access a proper week from the time I updated chapter 1. I'd rather not have posted this until I was finished with the rough of chapter three, so I will have a full chapter to work with during the week (a cushion in case I get writer's block or a buttload of homework for a week).

This kind of thing won't happen that often. More likely than not, I will be late on updates. And the updates will probably be around Wednesday/ Thursday.

With that out of the way, I'd love to thank all my watchers/author/story alert people. Waking up to 11 e-mails all full of support and stuff kind of made my Sunday. So thank you muchly.

Special thanks to those of you who reviewed: BrokenAvenger21, Error 410, TheLastKorosu, Linear Kitsune, and Dancin'WithTearsInMyEyes (specials for being first!)

So. Reviews are always appreciated. So review.

See y'all in chapter three!

-Starcube Out.


	3. Chapter 3

This here is a disclaimer. On with the show.

* * *

Tsunade did not appreciate being woken up before sunrise. She especially did not appreciate being woken up after an evening of drinking. And, most importantly, Tsunade did not appreciate being woken up and informed that the perimeter guard had caught a certain missing-nin on the outskirts of the village.

When the ANBU member had tried to rouse her, she had nearly knocked the poor woman into the wall. Or at least, that was what would have happened if she had been able to aim properly. The guards to the Hokage's apartments must've let her in. In retaliation, the ANBU had flicked on the lights of Tsunade's room. The light did nothing to improve the Hokage's mood.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!" She howled, partly from annoyance and partly from her hangover. "TURN OFF THAT DAMN LIGHT! IT MUST BE THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!"

"Not quite yet, Lady Hokage," the other woman informed her calmly, "You needed to be informed that one of the perimeter patrols picked up Sasuke Uchiha and a companion a short while ago."

The Hokage stared at her blankly for a minute.

"I don't know, nor do I want to know how Naruto got you to play along with his little prank to get me out of my nice warm bed, and out to the edge of the village to see his little 'triumphant return with Sasuke', but it can damn well wait until morning."

The blonde woman was about to pull the covers back onto herself when the ANBU interrupted.

"Naruto Uzumaki was not sighted anywhere near the perimeter. His team has not yet returned to the village territory. We are left to assume that Sasuke Uchiha has arrived here under his own power."

The Hokage's eyes narrowed and a furrow appeared between her brows.

"There appears to be no sign of a struggle," the ANBU continued, guessing her leader's line of thought. "He said that Itachi Uchiha is dead."

This got Tsunade's attention. She jumped out of bed and made for the door.

"Lady Hokage," the ninja called after her.

"What!?!"

"The Uchiha and his companion have been taken to the holding cells. They have surrendered their weapons and have made no attempt at resistance."

Tsunade reached for the doorknob again.

"And before you leave, you may wish to change into day attire."

The Hokage looked down at herself. Yes, that made sense. One could not rightly go and interrogate Sasuke Uchiha wearing cream colored pajamas.

"Thank you," she said, "If you could, go get Ibiki Morino and bring him to the holding cells as soon as possible."

"Yes, ma'am," the ANBU replied, and she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Tsunade turned away from the door and made for her dresser. She grabbed two pills that would stop the pounding headache from her hangover, and downed them with a glass of water. She would need all her wits about her tonight. This morning.

Today was going to be a terrible day.

* * *

Juugo was none too fond of being put back in a cell. It was dark and clammy with no windows to let any light in. There were seals to prevent him from escaping, seals and guards. Juugo had become used to the outside world, to the open sky, to the chirping birds, not that there would be any awake at this hour. To have that all taken away made him uncomfortable. He did not want to stay like this. The holding cell put him on edge. However, Sasuke said that Konoha might be willing to help him, or at least to try. He understood the reasoning behind their imprisonment, after all, but that didn't mean that he had to like it.

It was silent in the holding cells, the guards there not even breathing too loudly. Juugo could hear the occasional rustle of clothing coming from either Sasuke or one of their escorts. He had no way of distinguishing between the two, Sasuke had been taken to a different cell in the hall, probably to prevent them from communicating if they had some secret plans for destroying the village. It should have been obvious by now that the pair was planning nothing of the sort though.

Soon, a great many pairs of footsteps became audible throughout the silent cells. The clacking of heels, the slight squelching of rubber soles, the tip-tap of light footsteps grew louder. A light flickered on somewhere to his left, its soft, warm glow penetrating the gloom of the cell. It pierced its way through the bars of the door and through the cracks in the doorframe.

"Who's this one?" said a female voice, older by the sound of it.

"The Uchiha's companion," said another voice, male, probably a guard, "Name of Juugo, according to him."

The light was suddenly blocked by a figure approaching the door. A ribbon of panic shot through Juugo's body at the thought of someone coming too close to him. What if he lost control? What if he ruined any chance he had of ever being normal? Of ever being safe?

The dull image of a face peered at him through the bars. Juugo could not see the features because of the light shining behind the figure, but he was reasonable sure that it was the female who had first spoken. She wore the clacking shoes.

"We'll deal with him later," the woman said, turning away. "Now where is the stem that's been growing a thorn in my side for the last three years?"

Juugo let out a breath he hadn't quite realized he had been holding. These Konoha ninja would be safe from him tonight it seemed. They wouldn't get close enough to be hurt.

* * *

Sasuke heard voices down the hall. That was probably around where Juugo's cell was. The ANBU woman must have woken the Hokage. She was here, then.

Truth be told, Sasuke could hardly remember anything about the Fifth Hokage beyond the fact that she was a medic. He knew she was the one who had brought him out of Itachi's Mangekyo-induced coma years and years ago, but he had not remained in the village long enough after to know any more. Orochimaru had told him barely anything about his old team.

Footsteps grew louder. The group had apparently moved on. They were coming for him now, and Sasuke was not entirely sure what to expect. The door to his cell was opened. A group of three people walked in, the ANBU from earlier, another one, and a blonde, busty woman whom he could recall was the Hokage. She took a seat on the hollowed out bench opposite him in the cell. The other two remained standing, on their guard.

"Fancy meeting you here, Uchiha," the blonde drawled, "I'm the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, the one who healed your sorry ass all those years ago. I'm starting to regret it now, though, you didn't stick around long enough to give me a proper 'thank you'."

If she was expecting him to be apologetic, the Hokage was dead wrong. Sasuke thought it was probably an act, recommended by the Interrogations Unit, to pry out of him whatever they wanted to know. It was pointless though, he would give Konoha the information they sought. Anything about Sound and the Akatsuki he would give them. Anything about himself, he would limit, and Konoha would hear nothing from him about his clan, apart from Itachi's death.

Noting his lack of reply, the Hokage continued, "Your lack of humility will be your downfall, boy. Now, tell me why you are here."

That was a question Sasuke had been expecting, but had not quite concocted a proper answer to, since he still wasn't sure of his reasons himself. Telling her that he had returned on a whim was not a reply that would keep him alive very long.

"Itachi is dead. My goal is complete," he opted for instead. It was a poor response, he knew, but it was at least mostly true. The Hokage would have the skill to detect any lie he might tell.

"So I've been told," Tsunade replied. Getting proper answers out of this brat was going to be like wringing water from a stone. Fortunately, that was Ibiki's job, and not hers. She was just going to hear him out, and judge whether or not it was worth the risk to let him live.

"I am willing to give information on Hidden Sound and on the Akatsuki in return for being allowed to return to Konoha as a free citizen," Sasuke stated, dully, before the Hokage could ask another annoying question.

"And why should Konoha believe anything that comes out of your mouth, traitor?" she replied just as quickly.

"I have no reason to lie."

Nothing Tsunade knew contradicted that. It cut her line of questioning short. It didn't matter though, Ibiki would be able to get more out of him, and better read his intentions. Instead she chose a different path.

"Why is…Juugo, your comrade, here?"

"He came with me. Juugo is the originator of Orochimaru's curse seal."

"So you brought him as a lab rat? Or as a peace offering?"

It sounded bad when she put it that way, even though it was essentially true.

"It was ill-advised to leave him alone."

"So you care for his wellbeing then? Apparently more than that of your so-called best friend, who you put a hole through around four years ago."

"He healed, didn't he," Sasuke replied, somewhat petulantly. Why did she have to keep bringing the past up?

Tsunade could nearly hear the whine in his voice. She was gaining control of the conversation faster than she had expected. Apparently he had not thought out so thoroughly what would happen after he walked through the gates.

"That doesn't change the fact that you still nearly killed him," she said lightly. "Now, what exactly did you expect us to do with your little friend?"

Sasuke snorted at Tsunade's use of 'little', for that was far from what Juugo was. He then shrugged, "I can't have been the only one to receive the Curse Seal."

The Hokage's eyes narrowed. So he had brought the other guy along to be used as a remedy to Sasuke's problem? It made her feel slightly ill. Human experimentation had always made her nauseous.

"You want us to use him to rid you of the Curse Seal then? You're more like Oroch-"

"I have no Curse Seal to be rid of," Sasuke cut her off, pulling the collar of his shirt aside to reveal the now-unmarked skin.

"How did you manage that, when there is no known cure or antidote?"

"It was removed by Itachi," Sasuke said contritely, then returned to the original discussion. "Juugo is not here to be of use to me. The enzyme that causes the Curse Seal afflicts him as well."

The underlying meaning of his words were clear to her. Juugo was there to be healed, not to assist in some conspiracy. Or at least that was what Sasuke said. But how could Itachi have removed the Curse Seal? Tsunade would take none of his words at face value until Ibiki, maybe Anko too, was through with him.

"Right then," the Hokage said, getting up, "This was a nice chat, Sasuke. I hope you're prepared for another one tomorrow. Later today. Someone from Interrogations will come get you. Your testimony to the Council will be based on what your interrogator tells me, so it better be everything and then some."

Sasuke nodded, "What about Naruto?"

Tsunade turned from the door and raised an eyebrow in an I-didn't-think-you-cared manner, "Team 7 is on a mission. Their return time is unknown. You may be informed if I feel like telling you."

"I am still a part of Team 7."

"If you survive your interrogation, let's see if they take you back."

And with that the blonde woman strode out of the room, her guards in tow. She had not had a conversation that strange in a long time. The way Sasuke had acted, it was almost like he himself was unsure of where he stood, like he half wanted to be here, and half wanted to be as far away as possible.

Tsunade hoped Ibiki could crack him. From what Sakura had said of him, he was broken, and strength and power was the glue that kept him together. Now, powerless against Konoha, a willing prisoner, what would the last Uchiha become?

Thoroughly incapable of sleep now, she made her way toward the Hokage's tower. Though she detested it with every fiber of her being, the only thing that could be done now was the foot-and-a-half of paperwork that sat on her desk. This morning had been the start to a terrible day indeed.

* * *

Juugo curled up in the corner of his cell and tried to sleep after the voices had passed him. He was too nervous and woke constantly in fear as the guards outside shifted.

_It will all be worth it in the end, _he told himself, _And I will never have to feel this fear again. _

* * *

Starcube back early because I'm having a crazy busy week. I don't have anything started for chapter 4 yet (I had two pages of chapter 3 done when chapter 2 was posted) so chapter 4 is probably going to be posted later next week, rather than earlier. But you got two chapters early already, so be happy with what you've got please.

Much love to my reviewers (10 for two chapters! Squee!) and for those of you that added me to your fave story/ fave author list. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Love to Alaenor-Skybird, as always for beta-ing. She's the one that makes me take out all the Ciceronian sentences that I write out of habit.

And as always, review if you wouldn't mind. I like to hear your thoughts, especially constructive criticism.

3

Starcube out!


	4. Chapter 4

Here isht a disclaimer of disclaimy goodness~

In all the years of knowing her, Shizune had never seen Tsunade up before sunrise unless something terrible had happened. So, when the dark-haired woman awoke at around five o'clock in the morning to see the light on in the Hokage's office, she immediately panicked. Something somewhere must've gone horribly wrong and Shizune needed to be there to help. In under five minutes she was dressed in her chuunin vest, not her usual robe, and off to the office, ready for dispatching.

When she entered the room however, the Fifth merely raised her eyebrows.

"Where are you planning on going at this hour?" Tsunade groused. She was clearly unhappy, or hungover, or both.

"I'm reporting for duty, Lady Hokage," Shizune replied, slightly confused, "There must be some emergency, for you to be awake this early. I'm here to help."

"Fine then. Your duty is to get me the strongest cup of coffee you can find. I've been up since three and I still don't feel awake."

"But why-"

"One of the patrol squads picked up Sasuke Uchiha this morning," Tsunade mumbled.

"What!?"

"And Naruto isn't back yet."

Shizune's eyes widened, "Do we know why he's here, then?"

"Ibiki Morino is being sent down later this morning, once the Uchiha has been fully disarmed. We're giving him chakra repressing drugs and everything."

_Treating him like the criminal that he is, _Shizune thought. "How many people know?"

"Us, the Interrogation Unit, and the ANBU team that picked him up. This is going to stay as quiet as possible. Information is need-to-know. Team 7, no, all of that year, does not need to know. Naruto especially must not be told, though it's probably going to bite us in the ass later. If the Uchiha is deemed a threat, I don't want to have to go against him for an execution."

Shizune nodded. Naruto would never let Konoha execute his best friend, even if it was in everyone's best interest.

"When are you telling the rest of the Council?"

Tsunade scowled, "They'll want him dead on sight. I don't think they believe in justice, or extenuating circumstances. As soon as the brat is in the hands of those I know to be my people, I'll let them know. I am not having Sasuke Uchiha killed without solid cause. If by some miracle, his intentions are good, then he will be a greater asset to the village than I think even he knows. For a start, I can stop wasting manpower looking for him."

Shizune nodded again.

"Well, now that you know we aren't at war, will you PLEASE go get me some coffee?"

The dark-haired woman jumped. She had forgotten about her orders.

"Yes, of course, Lady Tsunade."

"And some breakfast too! I can't do paperwork on an empty stomach!"

* * *

Sasuke slept lightly once the Hokage had left, if one could call it sleeping. His mind, instead of shutting down, merely went through cycles of thinking and not thinking. However tired he was, it didn't matter, for one did not sleep in the enemy's hands, even though he was not quite sure if Konoha was the enemy, yet. They probably thought the same thing about him.

The guards were being overly cautious, drugging him and binding his hands. They had, at least, not tried to blindfold him. It was either courteous of them, or very stupid.

After some time of almost-sleep, Sasuke surmised it was around seven o'clock in the morning when a new group of Konoha-nin dragged him off to Interrogations.

* * *

Ibiki Morino had met a lot of strange people in his career. Most of them were selfish, heartless, and thrived on bloodshed. Upon first setting eyes on him, Ibiki concluded that Sasuke Uchiha was none of the above. He came in willingly, which was a rarity among those Ibiki saw; the guards barely even had to touch him to make him move. It was almost as though, of all the places in the world to be, he wanted to be here.

_So he's either insane, or he's planning something,_ Ibiki thought. _He's an Uchiha though, it was probably both. _

The guards who bought him in directed him to the uncomfortable metal stool in the middle of the chamber. There were numerous torture devices hanging along the walls, all safely bolted down with locks in tune to specific chakra, in this room more for effect than usage.

The Hokage had specified that Ibiki pull no punches. Any sign that Sasuke Uchiha was hiding something was enough reason to begin using _measures_ or at least threatening them. This was not Sasuke Uchiha, Konoha genin. The young man in front of him was Sasuke Uchiha, S-Class Missing-nin.

Once Sasuke was seated, his handcuffs chained properly to the stool in the center of the room, Ibiki signaled to the guards. They would remain in the room for the entire interrogation.

The Interrogator stared silently at his target for a good five minutes before starting. Ibiki took in the way the boy sat, where he looked, even how often he so much as blinked. He was gathering information on the Uchiha, building a database of weaknesses and strengths that wouldn't be in any of his files.

The kid slouched a lot, that was certain. He probably had a habit of resting his elbows on tables, and without the support, he was just slouching. He appeared tired, which could not be ruled out as false, since he had probably not slept once the ANBU picked him up and had been traveling prior to that.

"Sasuke Uchiha, do you know why you are here?"

"Yes."

"Enlighten me," Ibiki said. Based on his monosyllabic response, the boy did not like to talk. Simple responses were for people in charge. Ibiki would show the Uchiha exactly who was in charge here. He would be making the brat do most of the talking, therefore, and keep him out of his comfort zone.

Sasuke clenching his jaw before replying proved Ibiki right.

"You know why I am here, Ibiki Morino."

"Yes, but my friends don't," Ibiki said, nodding to the two guards, and not showing any surprise that the boy remembered him from the chuunin exams all those years ago, "And it would be so rude of us not to tell them."

The Uchiha boy knew Ibiki was toying with him, setting him up to get aggravated and sloppy, to say things he didn't intend to. He wasn't going to take the bait.

"Approximately three years ago I defected to Hidden Sound from Konohagakure for the purpose of acquiring power to defeat Itachi Uchiha. Itachi Uchiha is dead. I have returned to Konoha to offer information on Hidden Sound, in exchange for the restoration of my citizenship and removal of my name from Konoha's Bingo Book."

It was a basic and complete answer, Ibiki noted, simple and factual. The kid was hiding something, he was too distant from his reply. The Interrogator couldn't quite pinpoint what it was that he might be hiding, but then again, it was barely five minutes in to what would probably become an all-nighter.

"And what makes you think Konoha will take you back?" Ibiki said, standing up. He began to walk closely around Sasuke, noticing how the boy bristled, and continued, "You attacked your comrades. Konoha doesn't like people who do that. You are responsible for the near death of several Konoha genin-"

"Near death. They aren't dead, so it doesn't matter-"

"Now, now, Sasuke," Ibiki said in his best imitation of a teacher voice, more to annoy his prisoner than anything else, "When I'm talking," he changed to a more menacing tone, "_you_ are not."

Sasuke glared at him. It was the Interrogator's job to piss him off, but did he have to be so damn good at it?

"You are responsible for the near death of several Konoha genin," Ibiki continued, "Including one of your own teammates. What do you have to say to that?"

Sasuke made no reply. There was nothing he could say that would put the situation in even a slightly better light.

Without warning, Ibiki smacked him across the back of the head, the force sending Sasuke nearly out of the chair, and causing the chains around his wrists to pull painfully. He twisted around to try and right himself, looking at Ibiki, eyes wide with shock and fury.

Ibiki shrugged, "You aren't off the hook brat. You're getting the same treatment that every other scumbag who winds up in here gets. I believe I asked you a question, and you are going to answer it."

"I have nothing to say."

Ibiki shrugged again, smiling creepily, "You coulda just said so and saved us the trouble."

Sasuke just glared at him.

"After that, you went to Hidden Sound to apprentice under the Sennin Orochimaru, known S-Class missing-nin and enemy of Konoha. Why?"

"He offered me power. I needed power."

"And you couldn't find power here," Ibiki said dubiously, "where there are _two_ of the Sannin?" He was belittling the boy, poking at the holes in his logic and revealing them as gaping chasms.

Sasuke looked the Interrogator straight in the eye and replied, "I would never have been given permission to go after Itachi here."

_There's a point_, Ibiki thought to himself. He had to give the boy a little credit for incorporating _that_ into his reasoning.

"And so you found yourself learning from the man charged with the most crimes against humanity in recorded history. Tell me, how was that?" said Ibiki, faking earnestness.

"I observed few experiments, and participated in none. I was in Hidden Sound for the purpose of training and gaining strength, nothing more."

"And you expect me to believe that Orochimaru was alright with this?"

"The experiments were for information, which Orochimaru would retain after the body transfer. It was unnecessary for me to participate."

"I see," mused Ibiki, "If you say the experiments were for information, and you weren't there for them, what exactly are you giving us?"

It was going to be a long night if this kept up, Ibiki concluded. Questioning Sasuke Uchiha was going to be like trying to get water from a canteen using a syringe. It was simply easier to open the lid and let the water pour out. Ibiki had just decided to tip the lid and see what would come out.

* * *

Within an hour, Team 7 and Team 8 returned to the Village Hidden In the Leaves. After filling out their mission reports, the team was dismissed. Kakashi alone made his way to the Hokage tower, to inform his leader of Itachi's death, of Sasuke's loss, again, and most importantly, of the invulnerable Akatsuki member who also possessed a Sharingan.

* * *

Naruto, meanwhile, crawled into bed with misted eyes. Not since his childhood had he ever felt so weak, so powerless. One simple doubt was eating away at his soul: What if Sasuke never wanted to come back?

* * *

Hiiiiiiiii there, Starcube here.

I know I'm incredibly late and I apologize. Writer's block+ computer malfunction + Beta on vacation= chapter late. But I did get it done! So yeah. And chapter 5 has been started, so hopefully it will be on time, and on time being sometime next week.

Love always to those who review(constructive criticism is always welcome, and so is just saying you like the story :) ), and many thanks to Alaenor-Skybird for beta-ing.

And if anyone who likes my writing style and is interested in a slightly crack-y AU story series, you might want to check out Designated Driver, my pet project that takes backseat to Path, but will be worked on (especially if I have writer's block on Path)

~Starcube out!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaim'd

Ibiki was right. Once he had straight out asked for the information Sasuke said he would give them, it was as though a dam had broken. A flood of information spilled out of the Uchiha boy so quickly that Ibiki had resorted to shorthand notes to keep track of everything. He doubted that the boy even realized how much and how important the information he was giving them was. The Interrogator now had a nicely detailed map of all Orochimaru's bases, labeled in Sasuke Uchiha's neat print. It was sickening how many there were, but it proved well that Konoha knew about a fourth of them already.

He assumed that the Hokage would be the one to judge and act upon the information he had gathered. She had not specified any intermediary and Ibiki had surmised that, with good reason, the entire affair was being kept tightly under wraps.

But this was the easy part. This was what Sasuke wanted to tell them. Tomorrow, Ibiki would have to start working for real. Sound was accounted for, but what of the months between Orochimaru's death and the present? The Interrogator was at leave to discover those events by any means necessary.

* * *

When Ibiki went to deliver the map and his other findings to the Hokage, he passed Kakashi Hatake on his way out. The two jounin but glanced at each other and moved on. Ibiki felt a twinge of pity for the other man, having one of his students for a wanted criminal must be difficult for him. However, he was fairly certain that it was not the sensei's fault in the slightest. From what he had seen from the interrogation, Ibiki concluded that the Uchiha boy had issues that ran deeper than his time as a genin.

Lady Tsunade was waiting for him.

"I hope my early morning has given us something to work with."

"It has if you want it to, Lady Hokage," Ibiki replied, handing her the map, "Here is what I have from today. It is yours to judge and do with what you will."

Drawing her brown eyes across the page the Hokage said, "All of his bases then? The brat really has no loyalty to anyone, if he was so willing to give this up."

"I informed him of this," The Interrogator inserted, "His reply was quite interesting."

"Oh?" said the Hokage, "Do tell."

"He said that it was better that Konoha get all of it, than Kabuto have hundreds of people for his playthings."

Tsunade pursed her lips, looking at the map again, "That's a fair point. I wish it wasn't, but it is. If the populations listed here are correct, I wouldn't want Kabuto to have them either. Kakashi's team just got back, and they've reported that Kabuto has fused himself with Orochimaru's remains."

"Are they sure?"

"I've got Hinata Hyuuga's Byakugan confirmation on this. Of all the disgusting things to do…" Indeed the Hokage did look revolted at the thought, "Medical jutsu were not meant to be used like this. Kabuto's kind of insanity and skill coupled with Orochimaru's power is a dangerous combination. Ask our guest about the matter."

Ibiki snorted, "He doesn't know, or he'd have killed Kabuto himself. He's got a clear dislike for the man, and Kabuto is also dangerous to him. If we tell him, he'll want to go after him."

"Tch. No way are we letting him go, now that we've finally got him back. I'll send a team out, Anko Mitarashi will want to be on it. "

Ibiki smirked, "Very few things would make her more delighted than to have Orochimaru's blood on her hands."

* * *

The next week passed routinely for Sasuke. He would be woken by the guards in the morning, and fed a chakra-repressor laced breakfast. He had to eat it, or he would start getting ill. Then he would be brought again to the Interrogation Office. His interrogator was always Ibiki, and the many personas he donned in his role.

The man had a freakish way of getting under his skin and inside his head. It was a challenge to hold onto what Sasuke wanted to keep to himself. He had managed to hide his intentions from Orochimaru for many months, but hiding things from Ibiki Morino was another thing entirely.

On the third day Ibiki had stormed in and directly asked about what had passed between him and the masked Akatsuki member. Sasuke had become somewhat accustomed to questions coming at him from all sides for two days already. He didn't realize the implications of the question until the answer was halfway out of his mouth already. How did Konoha find out about that? Surely Juugo hadn't told them, since Sasuke was fairly certain that the other boy didn't even know. However, Ibiki kept pressing, and didn't give Sasuke much time to think of where he might have gotten the information from.

Sasuke simply told Ibiki that 'Tobi' had removed him from the battlefield and dressed his wounds. Then he had requested that Sasuke join the Akatsuki, but that he had declined. Konoha, obviously didn't know that he was Uchiha Madara.

Ibiki had glared at him, for what seemed like an hour, his eyes boring into Sasuke's own dark pupils, then, seeming to find nothing wrong, moved on as though the whole incident had never happened.

In truth, Ibiki had told the Hokage about this, and his suspicions that the Uchiha was holding out on him. She had simply reminded him that it was only the third day, and more information could wait until later. The first days' worth of intel had already lead to a stack of paperwork at least two feet high. And Tsunade also reminded him that sending out too many teams on the information would rouse the Council's suspicions for sure.

After his interrogation, Sasuke would be returned to the holding cells under guard, a different cell every night. He would be fed dinner, and the cycle would repeat. He saw nothing of Juugo, though he assumed the redhead was being given similar treatment.

* * *

The Uchiha was not quite right about his companion. Juugo was interrogated, the same as Sasuke, but he was poked and prodded by medic-nins on a daily basis as well. That bunch was having much more luck than the interrogators.

Having spent most of his life in confinement, Juugo knew little of the outside world, barely knew anything about the very building he had been living in. He could tell the Interrogators were at their wits' end trying to get anything out of him. Most of what he knew about was the Curse Seal, and most of that information made little sense to anyone without a grounding in medical science.

When they asked him about Sasuke, he told them about what had transpired over the months they had been on Team Hebi. It was almost as if they cared more about what he said about Sasuke than anything Juugo said about himself. The redhead told them what he knew.

It irritated the tall boy to be kept indoors and underground again. He constantly wondered when he would next see the sunlight, if he would ever see the sunlight again. As the days passed, Juugo could not help but wonder if Sasuke had indeed brought him here to be helped, or if each day was a day closer to his death at the hands of Konoha.

* * *

On the eighth day since Sasuke Uchiha was brought to him, Ibiki noticed an increased number of people near the Interrogation Office. The outer guards informed him that some of those people were hanging around longer than usual. The Head Interrogator was certain that there were no leaks from his people, he knew them too well for something like that to happen right under his nose.

Perhaps simply the increase of activity around his office raised the red flag. Whatever the reason, security would have to be tightened, and the Council would need to be informed soon, in case the eavesdroppers were not of their ordering. Ibiki had his suspicions that the lurkers were there under the orders of Danzou, but he was not one to make bets without grounds.

When he left from grilling the Uchiha again about his brother's death, he would inform the Hokage of the looming exposure they were facing.

* * *

Sakura's duties had increased around the hospital as of late. Many more of the higher level surgeries were being given to her to assist with, or even perform. Tsunade was buried under a veritable mountain of paperwork, and apparently couldn't leave it unfinished. When her student had asked her where all the paperwork was coming from, the Hokage smiled weirdly and told her not to worry about it.

Of course, being told not to worry made the pink-haired girl worry even more. She worried about her mentor, and she worried about Naruto and she worried about Sasuke, wherever the hell he was in the world. Fortunately, her increased workload left her with little time to actually worry, only leaving her enough time to eat, sleep , and spare a few thoughts a day for her precious people.

* * *

The day after Naruto returned to the village he was more or less back to his normal, overly exuberant self. He had spent the night before thinking about Sasuke, about Itachi and how the three of them fit together in the grand scheme of things. Itachi had said that Sasuke could be swayed by anyone, that he could be turned against Konoha, and that one day, Naruto would need to choose between the two.

The blond boy refused to believe anything that Itachi said to him. Itachi was wrong, just wrong. Sasuke would never turn against Konoha. He just couldn't come back because other people kept taking him away.

* * *

On the tenth day since his arrival in Konoha, Sasuke was beginning to grow impatient. He was certain he had told Ibiki Morino everything he had wanted to say, and some things he hadn't, at least three times already. What else did Konoha want from him?

The Uchiha was starting to get headaches from the lack of sunlight, and he was sure that the food he was given lacked adequate nutritional value. The chakra repressors made him tired and even more annoyed. In short, the boy was getting surlier by the hour with no end in sight.

* * *

However, by the evening, it seemed that Sasuke was not the only one at his wits' end. Juugo had just about had enough of Round after round of interrogations and medical studies. While the chakra repressors did a considerable job at holding back that urge to kill anything and everything in sight, ten days of pent up rage and anxiety were too much for the drugs to handle.

The last of the day's medics was finishing gathering blood samples when it happened. One little twitch of the needle was all it took to set him off. The stabbing pain running up Juugo's arm cleaned out any last dregs of control he had over his rage. Within three seconds, the boy had gone from quietly seething to full-fledged berserker.

He knocked the medic into the wall with the arm that had just had blood taken from it. His skin tone was changing, shifting as his rage and killer intent grew. The of the falling body and Juugo beginning to mutter "If it's a man I'll kill it…no, a woman…" brought the guards upon him instantaneously. He tossed them aside like rag dolls. None of these men were half the shinobi it took to stop him.

One of the guards was still conscious enough to pull the alarm. Inside he thought it would only bring more victims, but something had to be done.

From his office, Ibiki heard the sounds of panic. Dozens of thoughts leaped through his mind, most centering around a break-in from Sound to get their de facto leader back, the others around the Uchiha breaking himself out.

When Sasuke heard the alarms blast throughout the prison cells, he knew that Juugo had lost it. It only surprised him that it had taken so long. If Sasuke could stop his former subordinate before anyone was permanently harmed, there wouldn't be any life-threatening consequences. The only thing in question was how long it would take for him to persuade Ibiki to let him out.

* * *

Down in the cells, Ibiki heard screams, and screams meant an attack, not a break-out. With the team of ANBU that were always at the Interrogation Compoud, he sped down the halls to assess the source of the panic. It did not take long for smoke, rubble and bodies to come into his field of vision.

It was that boy, the one Sasuke had brought with him. Ibiki's immediate thoughts, as the ANBU team mobilized, were that the Uchiha had planned this whole thing. Though, the broader minded side of him considered, there would be very little to gain from destroying the Interrogation Compound, especially after deliberately providing information. Maybe, just maybe, it was pure coincidence. However, Ibiki was loath to accept such a concept.

A loud noise to his left pulled Ibiki out of his thoughts. It came from the cell that Sasuke Uchiha had been placed in for the day.

"You want something?" the Interrogator hissed, though loud enough to be heard over the commotion from down the hall.

"Let me out of here. I can stop him."

Right then. The kid was either stupid or suicidal. From experience with the boy, Ibiki knew he was not stupid; prone to making bad decisions, but not stupid. Suicidal tendencies were not out of the question though, what with survivor's guilt Ibiki figured was in there some where. He wanted to go up against a thing that was giving an active ANBU Black Ops squad trouble, on his own, with no chakra. Ibiki had always known deep down that the Uchiha clan was full of crazies, and Sasuke fit right in.

"I'm not letting you out to get yourself killed. You are far too valuable alive."

"More valuable than the lives of your subordinates?"

_Damn him,_ Ibiki thought. The Uchiha was a former Konoha-nin after all, and did know the codes of his fellows. Leaving his comrades to die at the hands of a raging monster while there was a possibility of saving them was not something Ibiki, or nearly any Konoha-nin would ever do.

* * *

It was a gamble, Sasuke would later admit to himself. He wasn't even entirely sure that he _would_ be able to stop Juugo. He'd never tried without the Curse Seal, not that he had been given any opportunity to do so. He had also never attempted the feat with nearly negative amounts of chakra.

But if he failed, it meant death, and by no means was Sasuke Uchiha ready to die.

* * *

WOOHOO! ON TIME! AND NORMAL LENGTH! See, I do care.

Starcube here, back on track after the flailing around of chapter 4. Hopefully y'all like this one better too.

AAND I PASSED 25 REVIEWS! It makes me seriously feel loved that people are responding and responding so well to this story. SO THANK YOU ALL! Seriously, you guys are what make me push to make this story better every chapter. And Alaenor-Skybird, my fantastic beta, gets love too.

So. As shown above, I love reviews, especially constructive criticism. So review please, it really helps.

Starcube-OUT!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimed.

It took approximately fifteen seconds and four separate screams for Ibiki to make up his mind. Pride and protocol were not worth the lives of his entire unit. The trust he had in Sasuke Uchiha was not enough for his liking, but the Interrogator was running out of options. The man... creature... thing had to be stopped before it took any more lives, or a crack at one of the support beams.

It was too late to keep this quiet. The shinobi who had been lurking around the compound were certainly going to have something to return to their masters with. All that could be hoped for was a minimum loss of life. The Uchiha had obviously dealt with this sort of thing before and was using it to his advantage.

Ibiki unlocked the Uchiha's door, one hand on a kunai in case he tried to attack. The Interrogator doubted the boy would, but it never hurt to be paranoid. He then pulled a single soldier pill from within his jacket and handed it to his prisoner.

"One false step, Uchiha, and it's an execution for you."

Sasuke took the small sphere and swallowed it, staring at Ibiki all the while. It hurt going down his dry throat and he had to swallow several times to get it there. In an instant it felt like his veins were on fire, like a million sea urchins had been shoved under his skin. If he hadn't been trying to prove something to the Interrogator, he would have doubled over in pain. Something of his struggles must have shown in his face, for Ibiki sneered at him.

"You thought there would be no consequences of forcing your body to produce extra chakra after taking repressors for over a week?"

It is consistent with the boy's history, though, Ibiki thought. Sasuke Uchiha takes action without considering possible adverse affects.

"Sh-shouldn't you be helping your subordinates?" Sasuke heaved out as the pain reached his lungs.

"I am, by making sure you keep up your end of the bargain."

* * *

From the first crash, the ANBU Root member was on the move. Lord Danzo had stationed him around the Interrogation compound two days ago, and his spy work had come to fruition. There was certainly something there. And it was something that had not been there before, and it was something that Danzo had not been informed about. Therein lay the problem.

There should be nothing in the village that Danzo did not know about.

* * *

Ibiki had known that the kid would feel like crap after taking the soldier pill; this wasn't the first time something like this had happened. It was what Konoha got for its mercy sometimes; not everyone wanted peace. What he hadn't known was how quickly the brat would recover. It made the Interrogator feel better to waste fewer precious seconds of his coworkers' lives.

The Uchiha boy was quick on his feet and at the scene of the altercation. There were broken stone and broken bodies, and dust everywhere, but no one looked dead. The Juugo-monster seemed to be only intent on destruction, for now.

The Interrogator did not know what to expect now. He had seen berserkers, he had seen ninja with multiple personalities, but he had never seen anything quite like this, not since Anko...

And there was the Uchiha, walking right up towards it, hardly heeding the rubble and men on the ground. He stopped about twenty paces from the thing.

"Juugo, stand down."

That appeared to be exactly the wrong command to give. The thing dropped the chunk of the wall it had been holding and turned its mutated face toward the Uchiha. It looked incensed: eyes bulging, teeth gnashing, livid.

"YOU!" It came out more like the roar of a feral lion than human speech. "You did this! You made me do this!"

"I made you do nothing," Sasuke replied. "Now. Stand. Down."

"You brought me here! You let them take my insides apart! You left me here to die!" Juugo screamed. "AND NOW, I'LL KILL YOU!"

A huge fist swung through the air, pulling drops of blood along with it. A few of them splattered on Ibiki's coat. Juugo was hurtling towards the Uchiha, arms flailing, throwing rubble and all that was in reach. He was barely dodging, with stray rocks and support metal tearing at his clothes. Sasuke couldn't do anything until he could get a clear line to Juugo's eyes.

Stopping the older boy after he had already fully lost himself would prove to be more difficult than to merely stop the transformation. The monster part of Juugo knew better than to look Sasuke in the eyes. To do so would deny it of the opportunity to destroy. Too long had it been confined in its docile body. The wreckage was not enough for it: the monster wanted blood-Uchiha blood, to start with.

* * *

Every fiber of Sasuke's body was screaming in pain. His veins were still burning from the soldier pill, his muscles now rebelling against his movement. He had been inactive too long; his body couldn't keep up with his mind's demands. Yet still he had to stop Juugo. It was either that or die, for if he failed, Juugo would tear him apart. If by some miracle he survived, Konoha would have him executed for bringing the unstable boy into the village.

Between the ruins of Juugo's cell, he could see Ibiki diving in and out, gathering the fallen and removing them from the field. He spared a second to admire the Interrogator's practicality: the Konoha-nin was using Sasuke as a distraction to save his comrades.

He ducked again. Juugo had decided that the best course of action was to aim for Sasuke's head, smashing his skull open or at least damaging his eyes. With such limited chakra, Sasuke could only keep dodging, saving what he had for the Sharingan. Even then, he was unsure if it would be enough.

A stray stone clipped him on the brow. A dribble of blood started rolling down Sasuke's forehead. He blinked furiously to keep the blood out of his eyes. In between the dim light of the cell walls and the darkness of his eyelids, Sasuke could see Juugo watching him. Watching him.

"Tsukuyomi."

* * *

It took less than a second for Ibiki to realize that something had gone wrong. Juugo seemed to collapse in upon himself, his monstrous form dissipating, but Sasuke Uchiha hit the floor seconds later, blood streaming from his face.

The Interrogator had seen no attack go in the boy's direction, but then, he was still unsure what Juugo was capable of.

One of the medics who had been in charge of gathering data on the redhead stirred from the hall around the corner where Ibiki had been collecting people. This one had mercifully been outside the room when all hell broke loose and hadn't been quite so injured.

A few of the guards were also in good enough condition to be moving.

"You, you and you," Ibiki said, pointing at three of the more shocked and dusty than bruised and battered members of his team. "Go get that thing. Bind it with the strongest stuff we've got, then dump it in the farthest cell under the highest dosage of sedatives and chakra repressors that won't kill him. I'm sorting this out with the Hokage as soon as the passages are clear."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm going in after the Uchiha. Medic, you're with me; there's too much blood for things to be alright."

The medic nodded and shakily rose to his feet. He followed Ibiki back onto the scene of the disaster after he snapped his cracked ankle back into place.

* * *

Things were not supposed to happen this way. His vision was not supposed to be obscured by dark blood flowing from his eye sockets. He should have been able to move, not just lie there and hope the pain would stop. It was not supposed to hurt-he was stronger than this.

Amid the waves of pain, Sasuke's consciousness was screaming at him to move, to not show this weakness. His body, on the other hand, was not cooperating. His limbs were no longer on fire; instead, they felt like clay had replaced his blood, that a leaden weight was inside his very lungs.

Sasuke clenched his jaw, the only part of his body he could still seem to move. This felt too much like what he thought it would be like to die. And the thought of dying just made the pain feel worse.

It was then that a sharp wave of vertigo hit him and the hall around him spun and everything went dark.

* * *

Starcube has no excuses for how late this is. She only apologizes, and would like to mention that fight scenes are not really her forte. Next up: Less action, more plot!

Read and Review, Constructive Criticism is welcome.

Until next time, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later.

~Starcube, out!


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMY-THING.

* * *

Emotions were complex things, Sai knew. He understood their hormonal and psychological origins; he understood how to recognize them in other people. He could not comprehend why they appeared to come and go as they did.

For the past few days the dark haired boy had taken to following Sakura around as she performed her duties for the Hokage. Normally Naruto would be the victim of his tailing, but the blonde had been noticeably absent most days. Sai surmised that he was sleeping more than usual, a result of the depression caused by the failure of the last mission. He had said as much to Sakura, but she had dismissed it as their teammate 'having some things to do on his own'.

Sai had no things that could be categorized as things to do on his own, apart from his drawing. Sakura appeared to have no such things either, or at least none that were impeded by his presence. As much as Naruto was not himself, the pink-haired girl seemed to be completely unaffected by the mission's result, beyond her reaction the first night. Sai was unsure if it was a difference between male and female reactions, or perhaps Sakura's depression would be delayed-onset. He had read somewhere that it took some people time to accept that certain troubling events had happened.

And so it was that Sai found himself with Sakura in the Hokage's office early one afternoon, helping to organize stack after stack of paperwork, when a group of toads appeared on the floor. Toads were the summon of the Sennin Jiraiya, Sai knew, but why had they appeared without a summoning?

The Hokage seemed to understand their purpose, the stylus she was writing with cracked in half under the sudden pressure of her clenched fist. Her face, like many of the faces Sai had seen lately, was sad. Perhaps sadness was contagious, like he had theorized earlier, for Sakura's face had changed as well. Yet Sai himself felt nothing.

The room was silent for a time. Neither toad nor human spoke to elucidate the message Sai seemed to be missing. In one of his books it had said that keeping secrets was rude, but that had not been a tome meant for shinobi. Perhaps this was simply something he was not meant to know. The dark boy was about to turn to the door when a hoarse whisper passes the Hokage's lips.

"When?"

"Twelve days, about, Lil' Tsunade. Lots of trouble gettin' here, I'll tell ya that."

"You were with him?" Emotions Sai could not identify seemed to flit across Lady Tsunade's face as she spoke.

"'Til the end. He left things for you. Useful things."

The Hokage heaved a great sigh and turned to Shizune. The blonde's assistant was clutching her pet pig to her chest.

"Naruto should be here for this. Have someone bring him," she said, softly.

"Who's this now?" the aged toad asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Jiraiya's apprentice. That boy of all people should hear how his master died."

* * *

By mid-afternoon the Interrogation Compound would have passed for normal. The rubble had been cleared out, what was left of the halls cleansed and scoured to remove all traces of blood, and the damage hidden behind some very well placed genjutsu. All personnel were accounted for, and all but the criminal parties involved were, for the most part, restored to the medical condition they had been in that morning.

The same could not be said for the prisoners.

Juugo was in the kind of bindings that one would have expected for a high-profile criminal, Bingo Book level at least, if not internationally wanted. Yet there he was, this nobody from Hidden Sound, not even a blip on Konoha's criminal radar, in the maximum security cell. Under Ibiki's orders, he was so sedated that he needed to be monitored to make sure he didn't stop breathing before the Hokage arrived to assess his worth. Half the ANBU assigned to Interrogations were currently watching him.

Sasuke was in, perhaps, a worse state. The Interrogation Medics were not quite sure what to do with him. He was completely unresponsive to any stimuli, but still breathing. Occasionally tear-like droplets of blood would slide from his closed eyes. His chakra levels were barely enough to support life, but whatever he had done to Juugo was still affecting him.

They needed the Hokage down here if they were going to return him a stable state anytime soon. Ibiki had already sent out a discreet messenger bird to the Hokage's tower, a summons with no details, but no one could be quite sure of when she would actually arrive.

So they waited while their most precious source of information struggled to keep breathing.

* * *

Karin was terrible at keeping promises. It had been less than three hours into their journey when the girl started annoying Suigetsu again. She continuously pestered him about where they were going, where they would be staying, when they'd be making camp. Suigetsu knew it had been a miserable idea to let her tag along, but really, what else was she going to do? Without him or Sasuke around, Karin would most likely get herself killed. A lone, female, former Sound ninja wandering around in neutral territories was just asking for all sorts of trouble that, as annoying, maddening and obnoxious as she might be, Suigetsu didn't think Karin deserved. Or at least she hadn't pissed him off enough to make him think otherwise, yet.

So the pale boy's plan was to return to the Hidden Mist Village and take up his rightful place as a member of the next generation of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, a goal that Orochimaru had put on hold for far too long. Hell, he might even run into his brother again.

Karin would just have to deal with that course of action. She had given up all decision-making rights when she chose to follow him around. The girl had also, perhaps inadvertently, made it clear that she had nowhere to really go. Suigetsu was pretty sure that his old village would take her, trade information for her citizenship. After all, having been one of Orochimaru's guards left her privy to information that could be potentially valuable. If it wouldn't buy her citizenship, it would at least keep her alive, and Suigetsu himself free of guilt.

* * *

The waiting was killing her. As the seconds ticked by counting down to Naruto's arrival, Tsunade was slowly dying inside. Foolish guilt was worming its way around inside of her, threatening to cut off her air. She had approved Jiraiya's mission after all. _Not that she could have stopped him if she hadn't. _A sense of injustice was chilling her heart cold. _Why was she the only one left, now? Why was she always left behind?_

The Hokage could not make her hands stop shaking.

She nearly jumped as the door creaked open to reveal a slightly bemused looking Naruto. It broke her heart all over again just thinking about what she was about to tell him.

"Is this the apprentice, then?" inquired Fukasaku.

"Yes. And perhaps your child of prophecy as well," Tsunade replied.

"What's going on here, Granny?" Naruto asked, "What's with all the toads?"

The Hokage didn't have it in her to react to the nickname. She opened her mouth to reply, but a small tap-tap-tapping on the window of her office cut her off. Fukasaku picked up the silence as she went to the window.

"Yep, this kid's got to be Little Jiraiya's apprentice, acts just like he did."

"Hey! What do you think your doing talking about Pervy-Sage like he's a kid!"

Their voices faded to the background of Tsunade's mind as she saw the bird outside the window. It was one of the birds from Interrogations. It held no message, which meant there was an incident, but the details couldn't be risked.

_"What do you mean, 'died in battle'?"_

It could only mean one thing. The chill that had been soaking her heart went sub-zero. Something bad had happened with Sasuke Uchiha, something only she could deal with. He could be dying as she sat in the office watching Naruto's heart break into pieces.

He was quiet now. Fukasaku must have told him, and Tsunade was grateful. She did not want to tell him herself; saying the words would make it so final. The whole room was silent. Sakura looked like she wanted to go stand with her teammate, but wasn't moving. Sai, too, looked like he wanted to move, but more to leave the room. A twinge of pity flitted through the Hokage's already-constricted heart for the pale boy. The emotions running rampant in the office must be palpable, and for someone who couldn't yet understand them, it must be torture.

"Granny Tsunade," Naruto said, his voice low and rough with emotion, "Did you send him out there?"

Her heart was already broken enough that his words were merely twisting the knife.

"Yes."

And then came the torrent. All the accusations, the pain, the guilt that was ringing in her head was now ringing in her ears with the echoes of Naruto's voice. She felt hollow, drained, and that only made the reverberating words hurt more.

"Enough, Naruto," Kakashi's soft voice should not have stopped the tirade, but it did, "She knows how you feel more than anyone else."

Tsunade wasn't listening again. Naruto's words had sent her back to her last conversation with Jiraiya, how he'd wanted to put his life on the line to protect the smiles of the future generations. _Where are those smiles now? _She thought ruefully.

Naruto was trembling now, with unshed tears or with repressed anger, Tsunade could not bring herself to look at him to tell.

"Screw this," he growled, turning for the door, "If Pervy-Sage had been the Fifth, he never would have made you go on a mission like that, Granny Tsunade!"

"Naruto!" Sakura cried in defense of her master. He neither turned around, nor apologized.

"Let him go," the Hokage said quietly, "He needs some time to work things out."

She turned to the old toad, "Is there anything else?"

The toad blinked up at her bemusedly for a moment, then responded.

"Yeah, actually. Lil' Jiraiya left you all a code from the mission, after his throat got crushed."

_That _was an image Tsunade did not need in her head, not now, not ever. The small toad removed his cloak to reveal a series of numbers embedded in the skin.

"That'll need to be brought to Interrogations to be broken," Tsunade said.

"We've got a rain ninja and a body for examination, too. There's a lot to be gained from this."

"But is it worth what's been lost?" Tsunade replied quietly. "We should go to Interrogations now. The sooner we know what we're up against, the sooner we can prepare."

The words sounded good when she said them, but really Tsunade just wanted to be busy. Her mind needed to keep turning, round and round, so that it couldn't ever settle on Jiraiya. Her hands needed to be moving, healing, anything to stop the shaking.

She needed to be distracted, or she just might fall apart.

* * *

Naruto wound up back in his bed again, even though it was still a long while before evening. He had brushed off Iruka-sensei before and felt a little bad about that, he doubted that he would nave been good company for ramen today anyway.

If he thought about Jiraiya too much, he started to cry. In time though, he no longer had any tears left in him. After that, Naruto just lay there, curled up on his bed, unable to summon the energy to do anything other than sit there and hurt.

Everything hurt. His whole being felt heavy, except his heart. _That_ felt like it had been ripped out of his chest and stomped on for a bit. And he was quite certain of that feeling, because Naruto had had a hole in his chest courtesy of Sasuke ever so many years ago.

_Sasuke..._

If this was what it felt like to lose just one person close to you, what must it have been like for Sasuke, to lose everyone?

Naruto couldn't begin to comprehend how much it would hurt. If one loss felt like a hole in his chest, then to lose a family? There would be more holes than body left from that.

_I understand now. Did you think revenge would fill up the spaces left when your family was killed?_

_

* * *

_

YAY! At long last! A NEW CHAPTER. NO. DEAD STARCUBE IS NOT. SHE IS JUST REALLY BUSY WITH COLLEGE AND STUFF. AND SO IS ALAENOR.

So please review and remind me that still have some readers that care. Because ya know, no one really reviewed for chapter 6 and it made me wonder if anyone aside from me and my beta wants to see this continued.

And special thanks to SethoftheTwilight for your lovely note. :)

~Starcube-OUT!

(P.S. Chapter 8 is done and in the process of being beta-ed. So that means it'll probably be less than forever before it comes out!)


	8. Chapter 8

Standard Disclaimer.

Soon after Naruto left, Tsunade and Shizune along with Fukasaku and his retinue made their way to Konoha's Interrogations Unit. Ibiki met them in the public entrance, the one for common criminal proceedings, the place that everyone knew about. He raised an eyebrow slightly at the sight of the gaggle of toads, but wisely did not comment.

"We have a Rain-nin for interrogations, a body for autopsy, and a code for the cryptographers," the Hokage announced to her chief Interrogator, "Shizune will take the body, and I want Shikamaru Nara on this code as soon as you can locate him."

Ibiki nodded and gestured to two underlings, "And you will be escorting your quarry to the Interrogation Chambers?"

The words seemed perfunctory, but Tsunade knew they were not. That was an invitation to whatever disaster he called her here to assess.

"Of course."

The Interrogator made a small half-bow of deference before turning and heading down a corridor toward the back of the building.

* * *

Ibiki had taken the Rain-nin into one of the last open cells. He delegated the Hokage's escort to three of the ANBU who had been on the scene of Juugo's rampage.

Once they had safely reached the confines of the secret hold, the senior Black-Ops member cleared his throat.

"Lady Hokage," he began, "There has been a situation. The recent acquisition...became unstable...and cause significant damage."

"Which _recent acquisition_?" Tsunade snapped. She couldn't have Jiraiya dead and Sasuke Uchiha going insane all in the same day. The Hokage was unsure if she would be able to handle such stress, let alone ever tell Naruto.

"The companion."

Tsunade let her shoulders droop slightly in relief, one worry lessened, but there was still cause for concern.

"What exactly happened?"

"One minute the medic was drawing blood, the next he was halfway out of the cell and the prisoner was covered in all these dark markings. Later he became this great beast-thing!"

_This one must be new to the job,_ the Hokage thought wryly,_ but despite the theatrics, it sounds like a curse-seal gone out of control._

"How was it handled?"

A slight shifting of weight and subtle arm movements told her not well.

"The prisoner was incapacitated by the Uchiha," the senior said, a hint of shame in his voice, but less obvious in his movements, "He has been relocated to maximum security and sedated on the strongest stuff we've got."

"Then what seems to be the problem? I did not need to come down here to hear that my Interrogations supervisors are outclassed by a genin."

"A transfer is requested for the companion," the third ANBU of the party intoned, "And Sasuke Uchiha has not regained consciousness since the incident."

"A medical team attempted a revival, but he has been unresponsive," the senior continued, "It is believed to be beyond their skill levels, which is why you were requested. It is also necessary for you to sign the order for an execution of the companion, should you deem him too dangerous to maintain."

"Where is the Uchiha now? The other situation can wait."

"The Confessor's Cell," replied the theatrical ninja, " A good place for the guy too, what with all the talkin' he's been doing."

The Confessor's Cell was the nickname for the cells that had intensive-care level medical machinery in it, used mostly for those prisoners on their deathbeds who were having second thoughts about past missions. It was the place to prolong the life of an informant until all information could be extracted from them.

This cell was brighter than all the others, since the machines needed light to be read properly, and it was undue to have mistakes with such crucial tasks.

"What are we working with?" Tsunade asked of the medic at the Uchiha's bedside as she strode in. It felt good to have a set task, restoring the Uchiha would keep her mind off _him_, for a while at least.

"Chakra exhaustion, mostly. Mister Ibiki admits to giving him a high-intensity soldier pill after ten days on repressors. His nerves are probably shot too, somewhat, from massive chakra production. He's also got blood loss, some normal cuts and bruises that've healed. What's got all of us puzzled is the ocular bleeding."

"Ocular bleeding?"

"Yeah. One of our own says that it started after he got the monster to sleep. There are no signs of any damage that would cause such bleeding, but there he was, looking like he was crying tears of blood."

_It must be a side effect of the Uchiha doujutsu, _Tsunade thought, _Powers like the Uchiha have _must _come with a price. The Hyuuga clan has those evolved blood vessels around their eyes to support their Byakugan. I suppose the Uchiha never developed such a thing, or perhaps so few of them have tapped into such self-harming powers that the issue hasn't come up. _

The medic left his seat beside the bed as the Hokage moved to examine Sasuke herself.

It surprised her how young he looked. _Why must it be the old and the children who suffer so much?_ She mused, putting a hand to his forehead.

A high level diagnostic jutsu was all she needed to clarify the issue. Indeed, some of his ocular nerves and blood vessels had been damaged, not permanently, yet though. It wasn't anything life-threatening at the very least.

For a few moments the Hokage considered leaving Sasuke as he was until the Interrogations compound was at full strength again. It would make life easier for all of them, and give her time to begin sorting through his testimony, perhaps even to inform the council. But at the same time, it was far too risky. Should anyone who thought Sasuke Uchiha was better off dead (and there was a long list of such people) discover his whereabouts and his incapacitated state, well, it wouldn't be too difficult for them to achieve their goal. And Tsunade would be damned if Naruto's best friend died under her watch.

"I'm not doing this for you," she murmured, "I think you're an ungrateful little brat who's gone and wasted all that you've been given. I'm doing it for him. I won't let him lose anyone else. Not if I can save them."

Then the Lady Tsunade raised her hands to Sasuke's forehead again, and began the process of returning him to reality.

* * *

By that evening, Tsunade's heart was just as heavy, but the rest of the universe seemed to align to give her some respite. On her way to assess the prisoner Juugo, she passed a grouchy Shikamaru Nara being dragged into Interrogations by the bespectacled code-breaker, Shiho.

And Juugo's condition was not nearly as murderous as she thought it had been. She had seen much worse things self-inflicted by desperate ninja in poor situations. The Hokage had told the chief Medic of Interrogations as much. It was a simple condition, with disastrous results, caused by a fusion of the endocrine and nervous system with the chakra pathways. The transformations were facilitated by some sort of enzyme that she had never seen or heard of before, but that was unsurprising, given the rarity and secrecy of bloodline traits.

To treat such a condition would require time and effort that Tsunade simply did not have to offer, but her apprentice did, or would soon.

Tsunade had a feeling that Fukusaku would be taking Naruto back with him soon to Myouboku to train. Or perhaps Naruto would throw himself headlong into some training regimen here, in hopes of preparing himself to battle the Akatsuki. She knew one thing for certain, Naruto would not want to sit idly while Konoha armed itself for outright war.

In the near darkness, she made her way back to the Hokage Tower alone. There was nothing more she could do in Interrogations, with Sasuke quietly sleeping under guard, Shizune beginning the autopsy, and Ibiki breaking his new victim like an egg without even needing to touch him. She could only return to her duties and fill out some more damn paperwork.

So absorbed was she in her thoughts that she barely registered someone calling her name.

"Granny! Oi! Granny Tsunade!"

She turned to see who else but Naruto shuffling toward her. Over his shoulders she saw Iruka Umino leaving one of the benches around the village, a half-eaten ice pop in hand. Tsunade was glad that Naruto had someone like that there for him still.

"Hey Granny," the blond mumbled, rolling his ankles, "How...er...are you?"

He looked up at her, his eyes were red and puffy and the tear tracks were still very obvious on his slightly ashen face. _He looks like I feel, _Tsunade thought dolefully, _like hell. _

"I should be asking you that," she said quietly, "You've been like this all day, huh?"

Naruto looked down at his feet again, "Yeah. I want to stop, but I just...can't."

The Hokage didn't respond. They were quiet for a time.

Then Naruto looked up at her, "Oh yeah," he said, "I forgot why I wanted to talk to you. I guess I want to apologize for that crap I said before so...I'm sorry."

The mental wall that had been holding back all of Tsunade's feelings broke down at the look on his face. _Appearances be damned,_ she thought, pulling the boy into a tight hug as the tears started flowing down her face. The snuffling and dampening of her shirt told Tsunade that she was not alone in her crying.

And so they stood there, holding each other, mourning for things that had been, and things which never would be.

* * *

Far to the north, in the Land of Lightning a pair of mismatched yellow eyes found their prey. A scourge of flailing tentacles was all Zetsu needed to confirm the location of the Eight-Tails. Kisame could be sent for his capture soon.

* * *

YAY PLOT. Also, random pseudoscience. YAY? Short, because the major canon deviations are starting in Konoha. We'll get there eventually.

~Starcube out.

(also, I kinda miss my constructive criticism. I'd really like it if there could be some in my reviews again, please.)


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